Top Rated
The “Top Rated” category contains our favorite products, all reviewed with an A or A+ rating. If you’re looking for the best of the best, this is the place to be. You can filter your search to find only the top rated reviews in certain product categories by using our Advanced Search feature.
There are nearly as many types of beer glasses out there as there are wine glasses. A few years back Samuel Adams created this custom glass — designed specifically for its Boston Lager — and unlike any other beer glass in my collection. I’ll let the company explain: “The brewers worked with a team of…
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Few brands enjoy the status that Dom Perignon has — and has had, literally for centuries. I had the good fortune to meet the Champagne house’s Chef de Cave Richard Geoffrey, who flew in to San Francisco to give us a guided tour of his latest releases — cracking open a few thousand dollars worth…
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Meet Emilio Rodriguez. He makes wine at Bodegas Terras Gauda — primarily white Albarino — and Pittacum — primarily from the red Mencia grape. Together, these two Spanish wineries (“bodegas” to those in the know) pack a one-two punch, representing two exceptional, crisp whites plus one of the best Spanish reds I’ve ever tasted. If…
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I had the pleasure to be led through Wild Turkey’s six whiskeys, courtesy of an online tasting with Jimmy Russell (of “Russell’s Reserve” fame) and his son Eddie Russell, the two men responsible for distilling Wild Turkey today at Austin Nichols distillery. Both of the new Russell’s Reserve whiskeys have been re-released in new packaging…
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Smoother and more balanced than the Anejo Reserva bottling of Havana Club, this version of the Club carries a seven-year age statement, and the difference shows. This is a perfect example of Cuban style rum (fitting since it’s actually from Cuba): There’s a huge amount of rich caramel character on the nose, with a light…
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A perennial favorite “splurge” wine, BV’s epically-named Georges de Latour Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Private Reserve remains a winner in its 2006 vintage. Amazingly soft for a Napa Cabernet this young, it’s a wine inflected with cocoa powder atop a deep blueberry and raspberry core. It is drinking just about perfectly right now, with a…
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During my visit to Ornellaia, I also had the chance to sample three other wines from the neighborhood, comparing them in the relatively controlled environment of a local wine and salumi joint. Some thoughts follow: 2007 Ornellaia – I’ve covered this one extensively here, but noted more rich chocolate character in this tasting of a…
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Tenuta dell’Ornellaia is a major and increasingly important name in super-Tuscan wines. With its neighbor Sassicaia right down the street, these two define the Bolgheri area of Italy and own completely the bragging rights as this region’s top wine producers. Mere miles from the Mediterranean Sea, Ornellaia began its life in 1981 and now produces…
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The elderflower trend may be coming to an end as haute bartenders move on to yumberry, acai, and other oddities, but I remain an undeterred St. Germain fanatic. There are simply few cocktails in the world that this golden French spirit can’t either improve or twist into something new and exciting. In fact, you owe…
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This new, limited release whisky has spent 36 long years in cask (one sherry cask and two American oak barrels have been blended together), waiting for just the right amount of time to get from oak into the bottle and from there into your belly. This is a whisky that feels just about perfect, cooled…
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